Chapter on Momentum

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJun 2024

4.3

Word count: 492 words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Sunzi said: In general, commanding many is like commanding few—this is a matter of division and organization; fighting many is like fighting few—this is a matter of signals and designations; that the whole army can be made to withstand the enemy without defeat—this is a matter of the orthodox and the unorthodox; where the army strikes, it is like throwing a whetstone at eggs—this is a matter of emptiness and fullness.

Editor's review

"Shi" (Momentum) is a chapter of Sunzi Bingfa (The Art of War), and this passage concentrates on the core logic of organization and command: "division" solves how to manage many people, "signals and designations" solve how to unify coordination, "orthodox and unorthodox" solve how to withstand the enemy without defeat, and "emptiness and fullness" solve how to create the momentum of striking eggs with a whetstone. It is short but links troop management, command, tactical variation, and the use of force into one line, making it a key entry point for understanding Sunzi's thought. This Bashu Shushe edition is convenient to carry and read aloud repeatedly; the original is concise and leaves much unsaid, giving readers room to think in light of reality. Read it as a short essay on "how to organize resources into advantage": managers can draw lessons on layered delegation and unified signals, while ordinary readers can use "orthodox and unorthodox" and "emptiness and fullness" to reflect on the rhythm of work and the allocation of resources. It offers no ready-made answers, but it trains a structured competitive mindset.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers new to The Art of War who want to grasp the thread of its command thought
Middle- and lower-level managers who need to understand organizational management and layered delegation
Students interested in ancient military thought and competitive strategy
Lovers of traditional culture who enjoy close reading and repeated savoring of short texts

Not a good fit for

Readers hoping for a complete annotated translation of all thirteen chapters of The Art of War
Practical readers expecting modern management cases and operational templates
Researchers needing detailed glosses and scholarly textual criticism

Reading tips

Read the original two or three times first, marking the four key terms: division, signals and designations, orthodox and unorthodox, emptiness and fullness.
For each key term, try to understand it through a scenario of collaboration at work or in daily life.
Read it alongside other chapters of The Art of War to observe this chapter's place in the whole book.
After reading, write a short hundred-character comment in your own words to test whether you truly understand the chain of logic.

About the publisher

Bashu Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Bashu Publishing House is a publisher centered on collating and publishing classical Chinese cultural texts, with its main publishing areas covering classical literature, Eastern philosophy, ancient poetry, and educational classics. Its library currently holds 1,075 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, Renjian Cihua, and Out to the Frontier, involving authors such as Cao Xueqin, Wang Xizhi, Wang Guowei, Wang Changling, Liu Xie, and Yan Yu. These reflect the publisher's focus on literary classics, poetry criticism, and philosophical readings. Its publishing character lies in working around ancient texts and canonical works, with attention to textual collation and presentation. Public information on its more detailed publishing background and series plans is limited; this introduction is based only on the library's book information.

版权信息
势篇

FAQ

What exactly do "division" and "signals and designations" mean?

"Division" refers to the army's organizational structure and hierarchical levels, so that many can be managed like few; "signals and designations" refers to command signals such as banners, drums, and bells, so that many soldiers act in unison. Together they are the basics of organization and command, comparable to structural design and information synchronization in modern management.

What is the relationship between "orthodox and unorthodox" and "emptiness and fullness"?

"Orthodox and unorthodox" concerns troop deployment and tactical variation, with frontal fixing and surprise victory transforming into each other; "emptiness and fullness" concerns avoiding the strong and striking the weak, creating a force contrast of striking emptiness with fullness. Orthodox and unorthodox solve how to deploy and how to change; emptiness and fullness solve where to strike. Together they form the logic of winning in war.

Is this passage suitable for readers with no background?

Yes. The original is very short and the concepts are concentrated. Readers with no background can first use annotations to understand the literal meaning, then grasp the relationships among the four key terms. Do not aim for word-by-word precision at the start; build the overall framework first, then read closely again.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.